Sting Factor: Julian Humphrey decommits from Florida
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE SITUATION
Days before Georgia and Florida meet in the annual rivalry game, four-star cornerback Julian Humphrey has backed off his pledge to the Gators.
And the Bulldogs are definitely one of the main contenders to now land the Houston (Texas) Clear Lake standout, along with Texas A&M and possibly others.
Humphrey had been committed to Florida since late May, said all the right things about the Gators and loved his visits to Gainesville.
But Georgia kept pressing and Humphrey seeing that defense in person earlier this season could have planted a seed in his head that a flip was possible. On Monday night, a de-commitment happened and now the four-star will re-evaluate his options and see what is best.
There’s no question Georgia might be the pick.
LOCAL REACTION
For the second week in a row, the Gators have lost their highest-rated commit in the class. Though many have expected Humphrey to reopen his recruitment for quite some time with all the visits he has been taking, it doesn’t make it any less painful when you lose your top two commits in a matter of two weeks.
The Gators are young at CB and will need to add quality players that can come in and compete right away with Kaiir Elam likely headed for the NFL next year. Humphrey was expected to be one of those guys. With the Early Signing Period inching closer, Florida will have to be deliberate in its defensive back recruiting as it now has only one player committed in the secondary. – Conner Clarke, GatorsTerritory.com
Sting Factor: 8
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NATIONAL REACTION
It has been a difficult few weeks for Florida. Losing Shemar James hurt badly because he could be one of the best overall players in the entire 2022 class. Now Humphrey is back on the market after being committed for months to the Gators and providing depth at a position of need over the next few years.
Humphrey also provided tremendous speed to Florida’s defense as I won’t soon forget seeing the four-star beat Domani Jackson, Raleek Brown and other speedsters in a race at the Elite 11 this summer.
The Gators always load up at cornerback and get some of the best nationally so Humphrey could be replaced but if he and James end up at Georgia – and that is a decent possibility – then this will sting even more. – Adam Gorney, Rivals National Recruiting Director
Sting Factor: 7